Day VFR and Night VFR
What changes at night: equipment, currency, and risk.
12 min read · Regulations: FAR and AIM
After this lesson you can
- State which of the three FAA definitions of "night" applies to logging, lighting, and currency.
- List the equipment 91.205(c) adds for night flight, using the FLAPS mnemonic.
- Explain why the night accident rate per flight hour runs higher than the day rate.
- Plan the fuel reserve and recency check needed before a night flight with passengers.
Night flying requires no additional rating in the United States: a private pilot may depart after sunset the day the certificate is earned. That freedom comes with a set of rules scattered through the regulations, and three different definitions of the word "night."
The stakes are not only regulatory. The fatal accident rate per flight hour runs noticeably higher at night, mainly because of engine failures with no visible landing site and illusions during the approach and landing.
The rest of this lesson
- 1.Three definitions of night
- 2.The additional equipment
- 3.Preparing a night flight
- 4.The specific risks
- 5.A worked scenario: currency at dusk
- 6.Seeing and being seen after dark
- 7.What you carry, how you taxi, and the lights on the ground
These 7 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the PPL track. Paid once, yours for good.
Key terms
Try to recall each definition before turning the card.